The South Burlington Police Department wants to stay ahead of the drug trade and other crimes and have found a connection between them and some hotel and motel guests, Detective Ron Bliss said.

For the past six months, officers have been checking in with the city’s hotels and motels on a nightly basis.

Since the checks started, police have filed 19 cases involving drugs and another 12 for possible possession.

Police have also found 15 people with active arrest warrants.

“I’d like to think that the joint effort between the hotels and the police department has kept that number where it is,” Bliss said, referring to the total number of cases citywide.

Bliss said many hotel employees have called in cases where something just did not seem right. He said as a guest, there are some things you can look out for to inform personnel that something may be going on next door.

They include monitoring traffic coming in and out of nearby rooms. For hotel personnel, noting if a person is making lots of phone calls.

“General things that don’t sit right,” Bliss said. “We’ve been active in pursuing the issues that come up at the hotels and it just works for everybody. It's an advantage to have a nice place to stay.”

NewsChannel 5 reached out to South Burlington’s hotel and motels. None we spoke to wanted to go on camera and some did not return our calls.

Police said crime is a citywide issue across all accommodations, though some managers said crime was not a problem on their properties.